Mrs Darcy (Complete)

Chapter 26

I was told by my mother, my aunt-in-law and the midwives that labour would feel like extremely bad menstrual cramps which would come and go like they usually would during my menstrual cycle, but that is not what it felt like at all to me. I was in our room on the bed and my dress had been stripped off me by a couple of servants. All around me were women trying to calm me down and keep me quiet, but all I could do was push them away and scream at them to shut up as they made cooing sounds and told me quietly that it was alright. I was not one to be kind when people told me to be quiet.  And this lasted for a seemingly never ending amount of hours. I dismissed all those present who were looking for an excuse to be in the room while I was giving birth and when the sun had disappeared from the sky Annabelle came in -who was suppose to be on her honeymoon - and found everyone who had a role to play and sent the others packing. She had placed two guards outside the door and the anti chamber doors outside had a pair two so nobody could loiter and listen. "That's that, Eve. How are you doing?" She asked me, as she came over to the bed and took her place beside me with my hand in hers.

I could barely breathe. The pain was much more intense than I thought pain could ever be and it was almost all in my lower back and at the bottom of my stomach. I could barely utter a word most times. "It hurts, Annabelle. It hurts so much" I cried and sobbed as I squeezed her hand.

My little sister squeezed back and fought against me. "It'll be alright. You're going to be fine" She told me with a caring smile as she looked into my eyes. She was like an angel in that moment who was sent to help me and guide me.

I screamed at the top of my voice every time a contraction would come and increase my grip on Annabelle's hand, with my eyes clenched tight shut and my teeth nashed together. My lower back would slowly and suddenly begin to seize up, like all the muscles inside were slowly twisting harder and harder until it became almost unbearable at which point I would lift my bum up off the bed to be able to cope with the excruciating pain, but then it would slowly subside and the screaming would stop and my bum would settle on the bed again.

It was still much more painful than I had imagined it would be. "Where's Fitz?" I asked.

"He's outside with Cedric" Annabelle replied as she dabbed my forehead with a cold cloth that soothed for a second.

"You're suppose to be on your honeymoon" I told Annabelle in between breaths. "Why are you back here? You should be enjoying yourself" another contraction was coming and my back seized up as I screamed with the pain. Fitz must have been tearing his hair out and punching walls left right and centre.

"We had received word that you were about to deliver your child so we got on horses and came straight back for you" Annabelle replied.

I have her an emotional expression and put my head back on the wet pillows as a tear dropped from my eye. "Annabelle, you shouldn't have done that" I told her and cupped her face in my hand. She settled some weight on my hand but not much as I felt a contraction coming again and I let her go, grabbing the bedsheets and gripping at them tightly, cutting my fingernails through the delicate fabrics. "I need Fitzwilliam! I need him here" I cried through the pain.

"Sorry, my lady, the men cannot come in here" The midwife spoke up. "Get some towels, she's close!"

I heard the old and fat midwife woman say her orders to my remaining servants in the room and I gave her a dead eye stare. She looked like she was intimidated and tried to avoid my eyes once she had seen my expression. "Get my husband here" I said sternly at the midwife. "Now!" I screamed when nobody made a move and suddenly someone made a move out the door.

"My lady, you need to push now please" The fat old woman told me. "A big push for as long as you can"

I took back my grip on my sister's hand and squeezed as I pushed down into my bum to try and get this baby out. I pushed as I held my breath for as long as I physically could, feeling the pain in my stomach slowly travel down lower and lower, before my breath burst through my chest and I collapsed back onto the pillows, releasing my grip on my sister as I looked up above me, almost utterly exhausted.

"Another big push!" I faintly heard the midwife call.

I shook my head and closed my eyes, on the verge of crying. "I can't" I mouthed, unable to speak as my back seized up again and again. The candles flickering around me were creating a heat that I did not need nor want and I was sweating all over my bed.

"Eve, eve? It's okay, my love" I heard Fitz' soothing voice in my ear and felt his hand on my head, stroking my hair.

I looked at him and couldn't believe her was there with me. "Please, you need to push now!" The midwife yelled. I gazed at Fitz as I tried to grasp for his hand which he gave me and I squeezed it as I pushed down into my bum again, throwing my head back onto the pillow as I tried to push through the pain. I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out as the pain was too great, until my I couldn't do it anymore and breathed again, halting the push. "Well done, my lady. One more big push and your baby will be here" The midwife said, but the sound of her voice was annoying me, so I tried to tune it out. My eyelids were heavy and my body ached all over from doing this all day and all evening. It must have been at least twelve hours that I had been in labour.

"Come on, now. One big push and our baby will be here" Fitz said to me as I tried to keep my eyes open. "She's struggling" He told the midwife as I momentarily closed my eyes and found it hard to open them again.

"Fitz..." I whispered and caught his attention again as he placed a damp cool cloth on my forehead. "I'm so tired" I told him as I quietly sobbed with my hands limp on either side of me.

"I know you are, my darling, but just one more push and then it will be all over" He said and because he said it, he seemed to help me along with the pushing as another contraction came along and the pain in my lower back was the worst it had ever been, I held my breath and pushed as hard as I could, burying head onto the pillows until I head the faint cries of a baby and the gasps and applauses of the women around me. But my eyes were so heavy and my body was so exhausted that I could barely register what was happening.

(Comment what you think the gender of the baby will be: Boy 💙 or Girl 💜)